barack obama went to a christmas party. he went past a group of reporters. he says it is a work in progress. that's about where we know. >> is it your impression, aemon, that the subject has grown darker with the prospect of a deal than it was 48 hours ago? >> we haven't seen any public evidence of the private negotiations since about tuesday when we saw offers and counter offers taking place behind the scenes. we have seen a hardening of the public rhetoric over the past couple of days here. you get the sense that people here in the capitol building are prepared to be here through christmas at this point. i talked to one member of congress who said, look, if they need me to, i will be here on christmas day. so i think people are bunkering in up here right now. at least atmospherically. that's where we're at. >> what are the hypothesis that both sides have some sort of incentive to take the country over the cliff even if only for a week or so. because on the gop side, they've said, we do 7b want it raise rates on anybody. on the president's side, he said, i